Gamma Ray Burst Followup at NOAO

Recent developments in gamma ray and X-ray satellites (especially the BeppoSAX satellite,
with additional contributions from many sources including
the
Burst and Transient Source Experiment on the Compton Gamma Ray Observatory,
the Rossi X-ray Timing Experiment) have made high
precision spatial positions for gamma ray bursts (GRBs) available within
hours of the burst. This has in turn allowed X-ray, optical, and radio
counterparts of gamma-ray bursts to be observed for the first time.

Followup efforts have been done by several groups using a range of
instruments, beginning notably with Howard Bond's identification
of the optical afterglow of GRB 970508 with the KPNO 0.9m telescope.
Details for several bursts are given below. Many of these are results
of an optical followup program based at KPNO from 1997 to 1999, using
primarily the 0.9 meter telescope with optical imagers.
This group included
James Rhoads,
Nigel Sharp,
Buell Jannuzi,
Art Code, and
Arjun Dey,
and benefitted from discussions with others at NOAO as well.

Additionally, a group based in Huntsville (PI Chryssa Kouveliotou)
has ongoing NOAO queue time on the 3.5 meter WIYN
telescope (6.7 arcminute field) and recently obtained deep upper limits
on optical counterparts to GRB 011030.

Finally, near-infrared followup of several bursts has been obtained
under a near-IR Target of Opportunity program at KPNO and CTIO.
This collaboration includes
James Rhoads,
Andy Fruchter,
Ingunn Burud,
and Michael
Merrill, and has received valuable support over the years from several
CTIO astronomers including Nick Suntzeff, Brooke Gregory, Bob Blum,
and Chris Smith.

Gamma ray burst locations are available through the
GRB Coordinates Network (GCN),
organized by Scott Barthelmy and others at Goddard Space Flight Center. The
GCN also provides a clearinghouse for burst followup reports. Finally,
some current burst information may also be available from the
Astronomer's Telegram site.

We have followed up several gamma ray bursts. Links for most of these
are provided below on a burst-by-burst basis.

Data Release Policy

The NOAO optical collaboration (1997-1999) tried to make results
available to the community as soon as we
are confident of their reliability, and subject to mutual agreement
with external collaborators.

The NDWFS is a public survey and has similar policies.

Links to images for bursts observed so far by these collaborations
are given below.

Requested acknowledgements

Publically available results should be appropriately acknowledged
in all publications.
A specific acknowledgement will be suggested on the web page for each burst,
as data become available. These may look something like
the following formula, which is based on the KPNO
acknowledements:

This work uses photometry obtained by the Kitt Peak National Observatory
followup team for GRB < burst ID > (< list of peoples' names >)
using the KPNO 0.9 meter and WIYN telescopes.
Kitt Peak National Observatory, National Optical Astronomy
Observatories, is operated by the Association of Universities for
Research in Astronomy, Inc. (AURA) under cooperative agreement with
the National Science Foundation.
The WIYN Observatory is a joint facility of the University of
Wisconsin-Madison, Indiana University, Yale University, and the National
Optical Astronomy Observatories.